page_title: Saint-Nazaire
section_title: U-boat pens
hierarchical_section_title: Saint-Nazaire / History / World War II / U-boat pens
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Base des sous-marins de Saint-Nazaire (France). Elle abrite aujourd'hui un musée, et différents commerces. Deutsch: U-Boot-Basis in Saint Nazaire. Heute beherbergt sie ein Museum sowie einige Geschäfte. English: Submarine base of Saint-Nazaire. It holds today a museum and some commercial activities.
context_page_description: Saint-Nazaire is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany.
  The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière". Given its location, Saint-Nazaire has a long tradition of fishing and shipbuilding. The Chantiers de l'Atlantique, one of the largest shipyards in the world, has constructed notable superliners such as SS Normandie, SS France, RMS Queen Mary 2 and MS Symphony of the Seas, the largest passenger ship in the world as of 2018.
  Saint-Nazaire was a small village until the Industrial Revolution but became a large town in the second half of the 19th century, thanks to the construction of railways and the growth of the seaport. Saint-Nazaire progressively replaced Nantes as the main haven on the Loire estuary. The town was one of the most damaged in France during World War II.
  As a major submarine base for the Kriegsmarine, Saint-Nazaire was subject to a successful British raid in 1942 and it was heavily bombed by the Allies until 1945.
context_section_description: Following the surrender of France to German forces later in June 1940, the port immediately became a base of operations for the Kriegsmarine and was as such the target of Allied operations. A heavily fortified U-boat Saint-Nazaire submarine base was built by Organisation Todt shortly after occupation, with a 9-metre-thick (30 ft) concrete ceiling capable of withstanding almost any bomb in use at the time.
  The base provided a home during the war to many of the best-known U-boat staff, including:
  Commander Georg-Wilhelm Schulz who transferred 6th U-boat Flotilla from Danzig to the port in February 1942, where it became a combat flotilla.
  Kapitänleutnant Carl Emmermann – took command of 6th U-boat Flotilla over from Schulz in November 1942, until it left Saint-Nazaire for Norway in August 1944
  Lieutenant Commander Herbert Schultze – second in command of 7th U-boat Flotilla from September 1940
  The base still stands today as its extremely sturdy construction makes demolition uneconomical. The base is now used by cafes, a bar and on the roof is an exhibition about Saint-Nazaire.
caption: Modern day view of the Kriegsmarine Saint-Nazaire submarine base 47°16′32.5″N 2°12′8.85″W﻿ / ﻿47.275694°N 2.2024583°W﻿ / 47.275694; -2.2024583
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